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Updated on
October 30, 2007,
D.P.
asks from
Brooklyn, NY
on
October 05, 2007

How Long Is Expressed Breastmilk Good?

I've been pumping and storing my milk both to increase my supply and to be prepared for my baby for when I go back to work. What I need to know is once my baby takes the bottle, how long is it good for after that? I know I can't save what he didn't drink, but sometimes he'll take a pretty long break for burping. So, if this break takes like 30 minutes or more, can he still finish that same bottle? Or should I toss it? Thanks moms!

I have given my son breastmilk solely for the first 9 months and I have definitely dealt with a slow drinker. From my experience and research on the web it is said that expressed breastmilk should still be god for two to four hours at room temperature. I tend to stick to the low end of the ranges. I went back to work when he was 4 months and have been pumping since. I often pump at my desk and get so busy that I don't get the milk in the refrigerator right away. As long as it's not sitting out all day, you should be safe.

i was always told that any milk, whether it be store-bought, formula, or breast milk is only good for 1-2 hrs after being taken out of the refrigerator, made, or pumped. i was also told that a baby/child will NOT drink milk if it has gone bad. my daughter drinks her milk that sits a couple of hrs (through the night when being put down for bed) and has ALWAYS done that. i'm not sure if it's staying good because it's a little colder down here then in most homes, or if it's because i DON'T heat up her milk before giving it to her (i was told i didn't have to). when i DO heat up her milk to knock her out quicker, i made sure i change her milk after 2 hrs, but if she gets it right out of the fridge, i let her finish the bottle when she gets to it, and if i notice that she's kinda playing with the bottle, i dump it and give her something fresh. hope this helps, but i would double check with your dr. if you're not comfortable with any of the answers you get.

Breast milk is best within 24 hours if refrigerated. If you have a god supply you can freeze it and it is good for about 3 months. It might last 3 hours on th counter but I would not give it to my child. As well as three days in the fridge. Breast milk is always best especiallu because it reduces allleries and is easier to digest but it also soils faster than formula....good things dont last! Good luck and good for you for breast feeding. I tried with my daughter and oly lasted about three weeks with only breast, Recuvering from a c-section sucks. This time around I am already shopping around for a good automatic pump...and I am due in March.

as long as the baby has not sucked on the bottle the milk is good in the frige for 3 days, but if the baby has some of the bottle and stops, you should only leave it out for about an hour or 2. It is different if they have some and stop because the bacteria from their mouths can go back into the bottle after they are sucking. I breast feed for 8 months and I heard many differetnt things about how long to keep it out, its seems by looking at the websites and info that in the past 2 yrs they say it can stay good for longer. but my modo is its better to be safe than sorry!!!!if they say 3 days I go 2, if they say 4 hours I go 2! just to be safe. But usually after the baby had a bit of the bottle I would not leave it out more than an hour. and no more than 2 days in frige, I put labels on the bottles to make sure I wasn't leaving them in longer, becasue it is easy to mix them up!! Well here is a link that I was checking out, and it seems the other links had about the same info. I hope this helps! Breast feeding is not easy! But it is a great thing to do for the lil one! for the first month or so my daughter wouldn't latchon so I pumped exclusively and bottel fedd her breast milk, so I was doing 2x the work!!!!! but eventually she and I got the hang of it and she finally latched on correctly. it helps to let them feel your skin, if you are both skin to skin for some reason they latch on better??? maybe becasue it is confortable? i dunno..... sorry for rambling! good luck, hope this helps.
here ias the link:
http://parenting.ivillage.com/newborn/nbreastfeed/0,,484b...

Start with his diet. Cut refined sugar and starches that turn to sugar when digested. Use honey for sweetner.
Use unprocessed foods without preservative and articial flavors and coloring.
Most soft drinks contain caffeine and sugar so read your labels.
If you have a healthfood section in your gricery store do some browsing around for fun ideas.

I think the general rule is: 3 hours on the counter, 3 days in the fridge, 3 months in the freezer. (Or 6 months if you have a deep freezer.) Congrats on your baby! And good for you with pumping ahead of time. I only started doing that a week or two before going back to work and I struggled to keep up while working.